On August 10, 1993, Øystein Aarseth — known to the world as Euronymous, founding guitarist of Norwegian black metal pioneers MAYHEM — was found stabbed to death in his Oslo apartment. His killer was Varg Vikernes, then bassist of BURZUM, following a feud rooted in the era's notorious church burnings and the internal politics of Norway's early black metal scene. Euronymous had co-founded MAYHEM in 1984 and, through his record label and shop Helvete, became the scene's central organizer, shaping the raw, misanthropic aesthetic that would define black metal for decades. His death, arriving just two years after bandmate Dead's suicide, turned MAYHEM's story into one of extreme metal's most infamous chapters, later dramatized in books and films. Beyond the tabloid notoriety, Euronymous's musical vision — heard on the posthumously released "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" — remains one of the genre's most influential and imitated blueprints.
